Conventional digital computers are composed of devices which perform logical operations on one-dimensional electrical binary signals. Such conventional digital computers are used to process large two-dimensional image or array data only with great difficulty since, in general, point-by-point scanning or interrogation of the images or arrays is required to convert the image data to a serial data stream suitable for digital computer processing. While devices having an optical array radiant energy input and an optical array output, such as image intensifiers, have been available for some time, to our knowledge no devices have heretofore existed having digital radiant energy array inputs and deriving a digital radiant energy array output according to desired logical operations.
The impetus toward development of two-dimensional digital computing devices and systems has come from the orders of magnitude of speed advantage which can be obtained by processing the one million or more picture elements of satellite gathered earth observations imagery in parallel. In particular, the speed advantages may permit such computers to be carried on board future weather and natural resource observation satellites. Furthermore, two-dimensional computers have a broad application for many problems not related to real images throughout the various scientific disciplines where large order two-dimensional array data is to be processed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a memory device for two-dimensional radiant energy array computers.
It is a further object of this invention to provide memory devices for performing storage and erase operations on arrays of radiant energy signals.
It is another object of this invention to provide a regenerative feedback memory device for storing and erasing arrays of radiant energy signals.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a memory device for storing and erasing arrays of radiant energy signals using two-dimensional radiant energy array logic devices.
A still further object of the instant invention to provide a memory device for storing and erasing arrays of radiant energy signals responding to erase or clock array inputs.
Memory devices for radiant energy digital arrays are built of the logic gate devices and incorporate regenerative digital feedback excited by one digital state of a data array. Erase or clock array inputs are provided and may be responsive to masks for selectively erasing or storing portions of data images. One memory disclosed is analogous to a gated R/S flip-flop. Such flip-flops may be arranged in a counting chain. Counting masks and set mask inputs are provided for setting selective portions of array data and for counting only in selected portions of said array data.
A computer system utilizes the logical devices in an arithmetic unit and the memory devices in a memory unit and assorted registers. An instruction register cooperates with an instruction decoder and memory address decoder. The instruction register may contain radiant energy arrays indicative of which data array elements are to be operated on by which devices of the arithmetic unit and which memory locations are to supply which data elements. Thus, there may be a different instruction and different memory addresses involved for each signal element of a data array.